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Three weeks ago we ran a competition to name a new science fiction imprint we will be setting up in the next year or so, for which we received a lot of entries amongst which were some truly brilliant suggestions. Unfortunately, as great as they were (which made choosing one extremely difficult), there could only be one winner and one runner-up. So, in reverse order as is customary, the runner up was:

KATE PROBERT with Distant Earth (inspired by Arthur C. Clarke).

Congratulations – Kate wins a signed copy of the very publication to be issued under the new imprint.

The grand prize winner though is JAY EALES (who wins all the imprint’s output as it gets published)with:

rEvolution SF

This perfectly encapsulates the aims and ambitions of the new line: fiction which provokes a response – cutting edge, adventurous, arcane, challenging, boundary-pushing, and genre-busting. Fiction that ventures into unexpected areas, and delves into places not traditionally associated with science fiction. Thinking people’s science fiction – in other words, the EVOLUTION of science fiction through REVOLUTIONary literature.

Well done and congratulations to Jay!

NEWS

“VURT” by Jeff Noon

And, in further rEvolution SF news, we are proud to announce that sci-fi alumni Jeff Noon (Vurt, Pollen, Automating Alice) will be the first author published by the imprint. Expect it within the next 12 months.

Some time ago we announced a competition to celebrate the launch of John Llewellyn Probert’s Spectral Visions novella The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine. We have now picked a winner, much later than originally planned due to pressure of work and events but, before we announce who that winner is, here’s a reminder of what was up for grabs:

THE PRIZES: Top prize is a personally signed copy of the hardback, along with a poster of the front cover image (also signed), a paperback copy of Gary Fry’s The Respectable Face of Tyranny (signed), a set of posters of the covers of all the chapbooks published to date, and a Spectral badge.

Second and third prizes for the next two correct entries will be signed paperback copies of The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine, accompanied by a poster of the cover image (unsigned) and a Spectral badge.

All entrants had to do was answer the following question, set by the fiendish Mr. Probert himself:

In the film THEATRE OF BLOOD, how many plays made up Edward Lionheart’s final season of Shakespeare?

First off, we received notice this morning of a new review of John L. Probert’s Spectral Visions novella, The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine, posted to the Dread Central website and written by Pestilence. It contains this rather fine quote:

“…Probert’s tale remains a total delight from start to finish – aiming somewhere between the thrilling, the camp and the humourous, The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine lands smack bang in the middle of brilliance.”

For those interested, paperback copies are still available, although there are very limited stocks available – please send remittance (£8UK/£9EU/$16US & RoW) via Paypal to spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com. It is also available via Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Also, there’s a new review of Alison Littlewood’s chapbook story, The Eyes of Water, on David Hebblethwaite’s Follow the Thread blog – it’s the third one down and can be found here.

NEWS

We’ll be announcing the winner of the recent The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine competition on Tuesday next week – so please do look out for that! However, on Monday, we will FINALLY be revealing the Table of Contents of the very first Spectral Christmas Ghost Story Annual – we’re very excited by the line-up we’ve chosen. It was an extremely tough decision to make – there were more submissions than we’d anticipated and the standard was very high. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take everyone’s story, but there will be plenty more chances to submit to future editions of the Annual.

The Annual even has a proper title now: The Thirteen Ghosts of Christmas – come back Monday and all will be revealed!

Just a week until the official launch of the second Spectral Visions novella, The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine by John L. Probert, at this year’s gathering of writers, editors and publishers in Brighton at FantasyCon 2012. The reviews are now coming in regularly, and it is with great pleasure that we can announce the latest one from The Eloquent Page, the book review blog of one Pablocheesecake. This one had us smiling: if you want to know why, all you need do is click here.

THE NINE DEATHS OF DR. VALENTINE COMPETITION

Want to win a limited signed hardback copy of John L. Probert’s affectionately gruesome homage to the films of the late actor and horror icon Vincent Price, The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine? Then just answer the question below, set by the fiendish Mr. Probert himself, and you stand to win one of these coveted volumes along with some other great prizes (detailed below):

In the film THEATRE OF BLOOD, how many plays made up Edward Lionheart’s final season of Shakespeare?

THE PRIZES: Top prize is a personally signed copy of the hardback, along with a poster of the front cover image (also signed), a paperback copy of Gary Fry’s The Respectable Face of Tyranny (signed), a set of posters of the covers of all the chapbooks published to date, and a Spectral badge.

Second and third prizes for the next two correct entries will be signed paperback copies of The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine, accompanied by a poster of the cover image (unsigned) and a Spectral badge.

Please your answers to the question to us here at Spectral Towers on spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com, to arrive no later than the 30th September 2012 ( the deadline has been extended from the 24th). The winners will be notified via email after FantasyCon 2012 and your prizes will be despatched in the first week of October.

We were thinking the other day that we hadn’t run a competition for a while so, in order to rectify this obviously heinous situation, we’ve decided that, since John L. Probert’s affectionately gruesome homage to the films of the late actor and horror icon Vincent Price, The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine, is due to be launched at the end of this month, then this a prime opportunity to hold one, and what a competition it is!

All you have to do is answer this question, set by the friendish Mr. Probert himself:

In the film THEATRE OF BLOOD, how many plays made up Edward Lionheart’s final season of Shakespeare?

THE PRIZES: Top prize is a personally signed copy of the hardback, along with a poster of the front cover image (also signed), a paperback copy of Gary Fry’s The Respectable Face of Tyranny (signed), a set of posters of the covers of all the chapbooks published to date, and a Spectral badge.

Second and third prizes for the next two correct entries will be signed paperback copies of The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine, accompanied by a poster of the cover image (unsigned) and a Spectral badge.

Please your answers to the question to us here at Spectral Towers on spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com, to arrive no later than the 24th September 2012. The winners will be notified via email after FantasyCon 2012 and your prizes will be despatched in the first week of October>

Yes, today we announce the winner of the recent competition for purchasers of the paperback edition to win a signed proof-sheet of the cover to Gary Fry’s The Respectable Face of Tyranny . And that winner is….

STEPHEN BACON

Congratulations to Stephen – we’ll get your prize out to you very soon!

NEWS

Alison Littlewood’s chapbook The Eyes of Water is now ready for collection at the printers, so subscribers should expect their copies to arrive within the next couple of weeks.

And so, here we have yet another new review of Spectral’s latest chapbook, The Eyes of Water by bestselling author Alison Littlewood (A Cold Season). This one’s from the British Fantasy Society website, and written by Glen Mehn – you can read what he thought of it here.

NEWS

The competition to win a signed proof-sheet of the cover to Gary Fry’s The Respectable Face of Tyranny has now closed – the winner will be announced next week. Thanks to everyone who bought a paperback copy of the novella!

This time last month, we launched a small competition whereby anyone who purchased a paperback copy of Gary Fry’s Spectral Visions novella, The Respectable Face of Tyranny, could win themselves a signed proof-sheet of the cover (which is infinitely suitable for framing), for which the deadline was today. But we have decided, in our infinite wisdom, to extend the deadline to the end of this month. All you have to do is click one of the Paypal buttons below, and your name will be entered into the prize draw (for other methods of payment, please contact us at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com for details). Simples, as certain furry creatures are wont to say…

This blog entry is going to do exactly what it says on the tin – bring you a small bit of news and also remind people of a few things that are going on in the world of Spectral, to wit:

THE RESPECTABLE FACE OF TYRANNY HARDBACK

This book has now been printed and delivered to Gary for signing. All copies will start shipping early next week, so people should get their copies in early May at the very latest. To those who bought copies, many thanks for your patience!

THE RESPECTABLE FACE OF TYRANNY PB COMPETITION

There’s a competition for those who buy a paperback copy of Gary Fry’s Spectral Visions novella, The Respectable Face of Tyranny, in which one lucky winner will win a fantastic signed proof-sheet of the book’s cover – you can get the full details of the contest, as well as how to order the book, from here.

CHRISTMAS GHOST STORY ANNUAL

Submissions for the first Spectral Christmas Ghost Story Annual are still open, but you now have just over two months in which to get them in – for further details please go here.

CHAPBOOK SUBSCRIPTIONS

Also, subscriptions are still available for the limited quarterly chapbooks – and now you also have the option of subscribing for 1, 3, or 5 years. Currently, all subs will start with issue #7 (Mark West’s What Gets Left Behind) but there are only four places left before it’s sold out. The chapbooks are extremely popular items, often selling out before publication, so it really does pay to take a subscription out if you don’t want to miss another issue. Convenient Paypal buttons to order a subscription can be found down the right-hand side of this blog (if you want to pay by any other method, please contact us at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com – cheques, postal orders and bank transfers acceptable).

Lastly, watch out for some more reviews of current Spectral publications plus further details of the second Spectral Visions novella, The Nine Deaths of Dr. Valentine by John Llewellyn Probert, due out in September.

Yes, we here at Spectral have decided that it’s been far too long since we held a competition, and so here’s one that we think you’ll like. Anyone who buys a copy of the paperback of Gary Fry’s The Respectable Face of Tyranny from us will have their name put into a prize draw hat, and will win a signed proof-sheet of the cover to the book. To make it even easier, we’ve provided Paypal buttons below (if you want to purchase via a different method then please contact us at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com for details – and you will still be eligible to enter). The closing date is 16th May 2012. (Those who have already bought paperback copies from us will also be entered into the draw).

As a further enticement, this is what Ramsey Campbell, the UK’s greatest living genre writer, had to say about the novella:

“Just finished ‘The Respectable Face of Tyranny‘, a very striking use of the supernatural as a political metaphor, wittily and inventively sustained.”

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Spectral Press

Publisher, on a quarterly basis, of very limited edition signed and numbered single story chapbooks in a quality presentation, and devoted to ghostly/supernatural tales. Also publishes regular novellas and a Christmas Ghost Story Annual every December.

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